People's Bank Of China Warns Of Emerging Dangers Of Metaverse And NFT

The People's Bank of China warns of the dangers of the Metaverse and NFT. (photo: pixabay)

JAKARTA - Despite the People's Bank of China (PBOC) warning about metaverse and nonfungible tokens (NFTs) last November, more than a thousand Chinese companies have filed thousands of trademark applications related to the metaverse in China.

At a summit in November, Gou Wenjun, Director of the PBOC's Center for Analysis and AML, warned about the dangers of digital assets. According to Gou, because virtual assets have no physical basis, they can be used for illegal financial activities. Gou cited activities such as "illegal fundraising, pyramid schemes, and fraud".

However, ignoring the PBOC's warnings, Chinese companies are rushing to register metaverse-related trademarks such as "satellite metaverse" and "exhibit metaverse". According to the South China Morning Post, which was also cited by Cointelegraph, more than 1,360 Chinese companies filed 8,534 trademark applications related to the metaverse as of Sunday, December 19.

Most of the companies that apply for trademark registration are technology companies. This includes big companies like Huawei and Hisense. The former registers to register "Meta OS" while the latter is applied with multiple trademarks in areas such as social services, advertising, and science.

Gaming and tech giant Tencent is also joining in, having registered nearly a hundred metaverse-related trademark applications including "QQ Metaverse," "QQ Music Metaverse" and "Kings Metaverse".

In addition to the PBOC warning, the People's Daily, the official newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party, also issued a warning about the Metaverse on December 9. The newspaper warns people involved in buying digital assets that selling property in the metaverse carries high risk, volatility.

The trademark application does not come as a surprise to many as the demand for NFT is on the rise. According to the NFT sales tracker Crypto Slam, NFT sales in the last seven days alone totaled 580.7 million US dollars. According to research by Cointelegraph Consulting, NFT sales are expected to reach 17.7 billion US dollars by 2021.